Our Mission
by MISSYAlexandra
Summary: While on the chase of a horrific serial killer and his accomplice in Italy, will Tony and Ziva finally admit how they truly feel about eachother? Tiva. Chapters are short.
1. Chapter 1

Ziva David stared in the mirror, carefully brushing her long dark curls, putting much effort into not missing a single strand.

Behind her stood Tony, who was adjusting his tie and hat.

Ziva averted her eyes from the brush that she was slowly moving through her hair to the portion of the mirror where she could see Tony's eyes wandering down her body dangerously low.  
She simply smirked and continued making strokes down her hair until it was perfect.

Once satisfied she picked up her jacket and spun around to find Tony ready to go with some ridiculous grin plastered on his face.

"Ready to go, sweetcheeks?" murmured Tony, watching Ziva smile slowly as she remembered the endearment from their previous undercover mission.

"If you are, my little hairy butt" replied Ziva as she stroked Tony's face with her fingers.

He extended his arm to her and she gladly took it as they walked out of their undercover home...


	2. Chapter 2

They set out, walking the streets of the older part of Sicily, joking as they usually would, all spoken in Italian though, used to fit their cover: a married couple.

What wasn't mentioned was that they were on the hunt of a horrific serial killer who had murdered 26 American Naval wives on US soil, who happened to currently be residing in Italy with his accomplice.

They made their way up a long winding tower, laughing and kissing softly, until they reached the top and let go of each other.

They had done the same routine for the past week, hoping to find some trace of the serial killer or his accomplice, today was their lucky day, or late evening.

The accomplice emerged from a bar on the opposite side of the street, head down hands in pockets.

Tony pulled his weapon from his holster under his jacket, as he raised it and positioned his shot, the man, known as the accomplice dropped dead on the pavement.

But _Tony_ hadn't fired a shot.

His body snapped around to where the shots came from, when another was fire, Ziva screamed and pulled him down.

After five minutes no more shots were fired, Tony stood up and slowly so did Ziva, only to find themselves getting shot at again.

Tony instinctively covered Ziva's body with his own, shielding her from anything or anyone who wanted to harm her.

He grabbed her hand and lead her out of the tower, back onto the main street when another shot was fired.

Tony winced as the bullet ripped through mid upper arm, the only thing that kept him standing now was Ziva's steady hand as she basically threw the door open and dragged him inside.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	3. Chapter 3

Ziva kicked the door shut, not loosening her grip on Tony's waist one bit as she helped him over to the couch, running off in the direction of the bathroom and returning with a first aid kit.

Tony was still on the couch when she returned, grabbing a pair of tweezers and a bag from the first aid kit, along with some antiseptic ointment and a bandage.

She briskly walked over to the couch and basically sat on Tony's knees, with one leg on either side of his.

_This would be a great position if we weren't such in a bad situation_ thought Tony.

_Oh great, now I can see right down her dress, focus on something else, her face, her beautiful beautiful face._

_Tony gazed up at the beautiful woman who was currently sitting on his knees, deep in concentration trying to remove the bullet from his arm._

_Oh how she was a great distraction, Tony was completely unaware of the pain until he looked at his arm to see how she was going._

"Ouch" winced Tony.

Ziva looked up apologetically "sorry Tony" and stroked his cheek with her free hand, then continued on working on removing the bullet.

Two minutes later she had finished removing the bullet and had successfully bandaged up his arm, but hadn't moved from her current position on his knees.

When he stared at her, she leant forward, kissed his cheek and smiled sadly.

"Am I going to die?" asked Tony, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Tony you are not going to die, you're all fixed up now" laughed Ziva, now she was really smiling.

Tony loved to see her smile, her smile reminded him of rainbows, which he used to love as a child.

"I am going to bed, it's late and I am tired" said Ziva as she hopped off the couch.

Tony tried to do the same but it put too much pressure on his wounded arm.

"Ziva" groaned Tony "do you think you could help me, I would do it myself but my arm feels like it's going to fall off".

Ziva laughed "Yes, I'll help you up, but I do not think your arm will be falling off anytime soon" smiled Ziva as she pulled him off the couch and headed towards their bedroom with Tony closely following behind.

Half an hour after they were both changed, in bed and the light off, Tony was laying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling trying to imagine pictures in front of his eyes, heard a sniff come from the other side of the bed.

"Ziva?" he whispered. No reply.

Tony rolled over to his side, groaning as he bumped his wounded arm in the process, and shifting closer to Ziva.

He tentatively reached out and ran his fingers across her cheek softly until she turned on her side and spoke.

"Tony"

The moonlight that shone through the window illuminated her face and hair, Tony thought she looked amazingly beautiful, even through tearstains and smudged makeup she hadn't bothered to remove.

"What's wrong, Sweet Cheeks?" he asked.

"I'm sorry..." she replied, almost ashamed.

"Ziva you haven't done anything that you need to apologise for"

"You could've died today" the sadness was evident in her voice.

"Why are you apologising?" Tony was confused.

"I didn't do anything, I stood there and screamed, I could've done something, it should be me with a hole in my arm, not you, I could've—"

Tony silenced her by placing his finger over her mouth.

"Wasn't your fault, we didn't know that there would be a shooter behind us, so stop blaming yourself and please try and get some sleep, okay?"

Ziva nodded against his finger, which Tony then removed and turned back over.

"Tony, I will not be able to sleep, every time I close my eyes it just keeps replaying over and over in my head"

She didn't ask, but Tony knew what she needed.

He turned back over, scooted closer, pulled Ziva close to him until she was directly on top of him, he wrapped his good arm around her back and played with the ends of her long hair until she fell asleep, which didn't take long.

Tony smiled to himself, shut his eyes and fell asleep knowing it would be the best sleep of his life.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony and Ziva had been on a stakeout all day, on their suspect, this time, whom the actual serial killer.  
He'd finally packed up and went home, his whereabouts were unknown to both Tony and Ziva.

Bored from staying in their current "home" Tony decided he was going to take Ziva out to dinner, Italian, obviously.

As they were halfway through their meal, Tony's cell phone vibrated in his right pocket of his pants. He groaned, setting the fork down and pulling his phone out of his pants, causing Ziva to look up at him.

"_DiNozzo" _said Tony, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"_DiNozzo, get your ass down to the alleyway 3 blocks north of your house, the suspect was sighted there two minutes ago"  
_Gibbs hung up without giving Tony a chance to reply.

Tony ripped the napkin off his lap, quickly rubbed what food was left off his face, threw it on the table, grabbed his coat and almost ran out the door.

"TONY" Shouted Ziva, he turned around "What the hell are you doing? And where are you going?"

Crap. Tony had forgotten to tell Ziva.

"Gibbs just called, our Italian intel has spotted the suspect in the alleyway 3 city blocks north of our so called home"

"Oh" was all Ziva said as she grabbed her bag and ran out the door closely behind Tony.

--

Tony and Ziva made it to the alley in record timing, obviously Ziva was driving.

They both had their guns drawn as they quietly made their way down the alley, pressed against the stone walls, Ziva removed her shoes since the heels made too much noise and they were killing her feet.

The first thing they saw was their suspect crouched, then he ran down the alleyway, somehow he had spotted them. Tony and Ziva both fired off a couple of shots in his direction, but he was too quick for them.

They were about to turn away and walk back to their car when Ziva suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Something is not right" said Ziva cautiously as she scanned the area for any signs of human life.

"Is your spidey sense tingling again?" asked Tony.

"No, Tony, seriously, look, what is wrong with this picture?"

"It's missing rats and a lot of trash?"

"Tony! Seriously! Before he ran off he was crouched down, as if he was talking to someone"

"Whoa, you're right... but who? Or what?"

"Over there" Ziva pointed to three visible fingers poking out behind the dumpster"

"Oh whoa" said Tony.

They approached cautiously, slowly seeing all of the woman who was laying on the ground next to the dumpster, three holes in her chest.

What they really weren't expecting was the little girl with medium length straight black hair, no older than five, covered in whom they presumed to be her mother's blood....


	5. Chapter 5

Ziva holstered her weapon and knelt down to the younger girl's level examining her with her own eyes. As she did this the little girl started speaking rapid Italian, which Ziva only picked up half of.

"....do not know what to do, mommy dead, who will make sure I'm alright, who are you what are you doing here, please don't hurt me I'm sorry, I'm sorry.." she whimpered.

Ziva felt her heart almost break at the sight of the girl, so young, and so afraid of things she should not even have known about, the world was just too much.

The little girl started her rapid Italian again, until Ziva put her finger on her own lips and uttered a 'shhh'.

"My name is Ziva, I'm from America, I work for the government, I'm here to chase down some bad people who have done horrible things, I am not going to hurt you" she stated.

The little girl looked up, bright green eyes that held so much fear "Are you trying to get the man who hurted my mommy?" she asked.

Ziva nodded. "I believe so, _tateleh, _what is your name?" asked Ziva.

"My name is Adriana, the fat man, he had a gun and he shot my mommy, then she fell to the ground and stopped moving" said Adriana as she begun to cry.

Tony, who was standing behind Ziva and Adriana observed what he could, his Italian wasn't as good as Ziva's was so he missed most of the conversation.

Ziva brought Adriana into her arms, hardly caring that Adriana was covered in blood and it would be all over her dress, and stroked her hair, whispering things into her ear in Italian until she calmed down.

Once she had, Ziva pulled back "Adriana, can you speak English?" asked Ziva.

"Yes I can speak English, flew-ent-lee" said Adriana, switching to English, feeling proud of herself.

Ziva smiled "This is my partner, Anthony, you can call him Tony though, his grandparents came to America from Italy".

They heard sirens wailing and Adriana started to freak out.

"Why are the police coming? I did not do anything wrong, I swear, I did not hurt mommy, the man with the gun did"

"Adriana, they are coming to find the man who did this, they know you didn't, they said that we have to look after you for awhile, we just need to stay here until they arrive" said Tony, reassuring Adriana that she hadn't done anything wrong.

Adriana just stood close to Ziva, occasionally conversing with Tony and Ziva about various things.

Five minutes later when the Italian police had arrived, Tony and Ziva had learnt a few things about Adriana: She turned six two months ago, she was an only child, her father wasn't living with her anymore, most of her family was dead, and her favourite colour was purple.

They all walked back to Tony and Ziva's current car, an Alfa Romeo 156, which Tony was worried Ziva would crash one day, and then he'd have another car to mourn.

They almost made it to the car until shots were fired less than a meter away from their car.

Everything sprung into action.

Ziva tore the door open and practically jumped in the driver's side, while Tony picked screaming Adriana up and jumped in the back seat with her while Ziva sped off towards their house.

"TONY TONY TONY TONY TONY HE HAD A GUN, HE COULD HAVE SHOT YOU AND ZIVA AND YOU COULD HAVE DIED, JUST LIKE MY MOMMY" screeched Adriana who had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Adriana, shh, shh shh, it's okay" soothed Tony as he did his best to during Ziva's warp speed driving and the restrained movements that the seatbelts created. "Hey, can you just hang on for a second, I need to call the police" asked Tony.

Adriana nodded in response and lapsed into silence.

"Yep, it's DiNozzo, we got shot at again, yes we have Adriana, you're what? Ahh, okay, thanks man" Tony snapped his phone shut.

"What was that about?" asked Ziva.

"Our latest Italian friends are sending over their best agents as added security around the house" replied Tony.

"Tony, we do not need added protection, we are there afterall" argued Ziva.

Tony sighed. "I know you don't like the idea of it Ziva, but we've been shot at twice this week, and now we have another responsibility to make sure is safe, Adriana" said Tony convincingly.

Ziva didn't argue, she knew that Tony was right, and she wasn't going to put Adriana's safety over her pride. "I understand, Tony".

They arrived back at the house, somehow the guards that the Italian police sent over had beat them there, even through Ziva's crazy driving.

Tony, Ziva and Adriana got out of the car and headed up to the house, greeting the guards politely and smiling.

TO BE CONTINUED.


	6. Chapter 6

They finally arrived inside, Tony walked into the loungeroom, lighting the fireplace, leaving Ziva and Adriana alone in the kitchen.

Adriana tugged on Ziva's now dirty dress, gazing up at her.

"Yes, _tateleh, _what can I do for you?" asked Ziva.

"I'm covered in this red stuff and I feel real dirty" replied Adriana

"Okay then let's get you cleaned up"

--

Ziva helped Adriana take off her shoes and get her top over her head, noticing the bruises on her back and abdomen.

"Adriana, who did this to you?" asked Ziva.

Adriana sighed, looking a bit worried. "My dad did, he went to a place, I think my mother called it a 'bar', he came home like he was really dizzy and he hit me, it really hurt and left these purple things" said Adriana, gesturing to the bruises.

"Where is he now?"

"Don't know" said Adriana almost inaudibly.

Ziva bit her bottom lip down "ready to have a bath now?"

Adriana suddenly brightened up "Yes Zivey! I'm ready now!!"

Ziva laughed and lifted her into the bath, turning on the jet streams to create a more spa-like effect, this worried Adriana a bit.

"Zivey.. what is this doing? Will it hurt me?"

"No, _tateleh, _it won't hurt you"

"I'm still scared...."

"Do you want me to come in with you?" asked Ziva

"Please"

Ziva kicked her shoes off and got into the large bath with Adriana, not caring that she was still fully clothed. As she was getting in there was a face washer on the bottom of the tub, Ziva stepped on this, causing her to slip a bit and screamed slightly.

Adriana and Ziva just stared at each other in horror and then suddenly burst out laughing.

Adriana was helping Ziva was her hair, leaning slightly back so Adriana could reach her head and rub the shampoo in.

Tony came in just as this was occurring, Ziva turned her head slightly so she could look at Tony, her smile beaming, Tony couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Tony!" exclaimed Adriana "come over here and help me with Zivey's hair!"

"Nahh, it's okay sweetie, you can do it yourself" politely replied Tony.

"But it will be mega fun if you help me too!"

Tony, who didn't want to argue with a six year old about washing his partner's hair, decided that this was probably a one off opportunity to be able to touch Ziva's hair without having his arm broken.

He walked over to the bath and got handed a jug full of water to Adriana and poured it all over Ziva's now shampoo covered hair, running his hand that wasn't holding the jug through it to make sure he got all of it out.

Next, Adriana held the bottle of conditioner in her small hands, and instructed Tony to make a bowl shape out of his hands, which he did and she squeezed the green substance into his hands, then pointed out where he needed to rub it, then repeated the process of washing out with the jug of water once again. Tony massaged Ziva's scalp with his fingertips, causing her to moan slightly, which made Tony snigger, knowing he had this affect on her.

He helped them out of the bath, Adriana first, then handing her a towel and the robe that one of his Italian friends had given him, especially for Adriana, she dried herself of and slipped the robe on and tied it up at the front.

Tony extended his hand to Ziva, which she took as she stepped out of the bath, then slipped on the water they had accidentally spilt during bath time, slamming straight into Tony, his hand now at her back, almost holding her to him. Their spell broke shortly after Adriana had said "what's to eat?", Tony took her into the kitchen, leaving Ziva alone to get dry and dressed.

--

Tony and Adriana both had their heads stuck inside the fridge, trying to find something to eat, when Ziva came in, dressed in her pyjamas. Tony and Adriana, not satisfied at what there was in the fridge, they shut it, mumbling something about food tasting like fridge.

"Is something the matter?" asked Ziva.

"We don't got no food, Zivey!" complained Adriana

"Yes we do, we have pasta, cheese, tomato and tomato paste" replied Ziva

"What good is that going to do? Eating ingredients?" muttered Tony

"Tony, I will not make you eat raw pasta dipped in tomato paste, I will make you pasta bake, if it is not too late in the evening to eat it" said Ziva

Adriana, whose head was moving back and forth during the exchange of what to eat, and what not to suddenly piped up.

"Movie?"

Ziva and Tony looked at each other, slightly worried. Did they have anything suitable for a six year old to watch?

"James...Bond?" Tony finally replied.

"JAMES BOND? I LOVE JAMES BOND. CASINO ROYALE, CASINO ROYALE TO-NEE" said Adriana as she excitedly bounced up and down.

Ziva just laughed. "You two go on and start the movie, I will make food and be out shortly with it"

--

When Ziva returned half an hour later with the pasta bake, she found Tony and Adriana discussing if James and Vesper liked each other, more than just partners for the mission, in the first part of the movie.

She sat down next to Tony and handed them both a bowl of pasta bake and continued watching the movie with them, already very familiar with what happened, thanks to Tony making her watch it 5 times.

As the movie progressed, Adriana fell asleep on the couch next to Ziva, fully sprawled out, Ziva's head had found its own place on Tony's shoulder, and Tony's arm somehow made it around Ziva's waist and was comfortably sitting on her hip.

Tony noticed that Ziva was about to fall asleep so he turned the TV and DVD player off, grabbed Ziva's hand and stood up, also pulling her up.

They draped a blanket over Adriana and put a pillow under her head, and headed off to bed.

--

The clock read 0300h when Ziva felt something climb into their bed, coming closer to her head, was indeed Adriana.

"_Tateleh_, what is wrong? Whispered Ziva, not wanting to wake Tony up.

"Got scared Zivey..." replied Adriana

"You want to sleep with us?"

"Yup"

"Very well then" said Ziva as she pulled the blankets further over Adriana and herself.

--

Tony woke up half an hour later, checking the clock and groaning softly. Then he looked over at the third person who was now in their bed. _The family he always wanted._

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


End file.
